Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/02/10
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I am not the best person to be listening to but here are some thoughts. N**** and C**** use lens elements in their digital bodies to correct the field of view so that the smaller format area of the CCD sensor shows the same field of view as what a photograpgher is used to with their 35mm SLRs. In other words without the corrective lens elements a normal 50mm lens would turn into a small telephoto. At present CCD sensors the same size as the 35mm negative are coming to be available, but supply and market (at present) is small so they are very very expensive. It is cheaper for manufacturers to use CCD chips designed for camcorders and point and shoots with a corrective element. The extra elements may well cause the softness in the corners that the O****** people mentioned. The "bucket" shaped CCDs and the need for parallel light rays sounds like hooey to me. The play in the mount causing problems again is not true. Light behaves the same regardless of the medium which is used to record it. Film, CCD, glass plate, whatever. CCDs do not need light to be "more" focused than film! Depth of field changes with image magnification and aperture not recording material. John Collier > From: Skip Williams <skipwilliams@pobox.com> > Date: Wed, 09 Feb 2000 09:25:28 -0500 > Subject: [Leica] Digital cameras and Interchangable lenses? > > This message was posted over on the Olympus list as a result of one list > member's conversations at PMA. Does anyone have any comments on whether > there is any truth to the statements below? I for one, can't fathom that > this is right. It looks like so much marketing bullshit. Does Nikon, > Canon, Kodak, or Leica use any transfer lenses or trickery on their digital > cameras that take "standard" interchangeable lenses? > > Skip > > >> I spoke with several folks from Olympus America at PMA this past week. In >> general they had this to say:---Some OM items are still in production and >> will >> continue to be so for the foreseeable future; NO digital camera using OM >> lenses is planned (more on this later); they are developing what they >> feel are >> the best P&S 35mm and consumer digital cameras. >> >> The stated reason about NO OM Digital Camera is: they feel the quality to be >> obtained from using interchangeable lenses NOT designed for digital is >> greatly >> inferior. It has to do with how a CCD accepts light input, light rays >> must ALL >> be parallel since the sensor is like little buckets ( U ). Nikon and >> Canon get >> around this by using an adapter plate to make the rays acceptable but >> sharpness >> suffers at the edges, especially with larger chips. >> Also, interchangeable lenses have some play in the mount, and while some of >> this in acceptable and within tolerance for film, it is not for CCD's.